Alec Baldwin's 'Rust' prosecutor wants involuntary manslaughter dismissal reconsidered
The special prosecutor in Alec Baldwin's "Rust" shooting trial requested the judge reconsider the dismissal with prejudice of the actor's involuntary manslaughter charge.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed Baldwin's charges mid-trial on July 12, claiming the prosecution had withheld evidence from the defense.
However, prosecutor Kari Morrissey argued there were "insufficient facts" to support Sommer's ruling and claimed Baldwin's due process rights had not been violated in an Aug. 30 filing obtained by Fox News Digital.
Morrissey admitted the evidence may have been "suppressed" from Baldwin's team but insisted the actor was aware the ammunition existed before trial. The prosecutor noted the evidence was not "favorable" to Baldwin nor "material."
JUDGE DISMISSES ALEC BALDWIN'S INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER CASE IN STUNNING VICTORY FOR ACTOR
Fox News Digital reached out to representatives for Baldwin and Morrissey.
Baldwin faced an involuntary manslaughter charge after a gun he was holding on the set of "Rust" in 2021 fired, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
The fourth day of the trial opened with defense attorney Luke Nikas accusing the state of withholding evidence that prop distributor Seth Kenney was the source of the live ammunition. Nikas pointed to ammunition turned over to the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office in March.
Morrissey took the stand and emphasized that she never believed that the evidence in question, which came from ex-Arizona police officer Troy Teske, was exculpatory because the ammunition turned over to law enforcement never left the state of Arizona before the fatal shooting on the "Rust" set.
"I decided not to take any steps to collect this ammunition because it was in Arizona, had never come to New Mexico and didn't match the live rounds on the set of ‘Rust,'" Morrissey testified.
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The prosecution claimed the ammunition was entered into a separate evidence database after an analysis by crime scene technician Marissa Poppell was completed.
Poppell admitted during testimony that she didn't inventory the evidence from Teske under the "Rust" case, but instead under a different case number. The defense also didn't receive a supplemental report on the new evidence. Santa Fe County Sheriff's Corporal Alexendria Hancock, the lead investigator on the case, admitted this decision was made in consultation with prosecutors and her supervisors.
"OK. So you, you all had discussions about what to do with what he dropped off?" Judge Sommer asked.
"Yes," she replied.
"And you all agreed to put it in the separate file?" the judge pressed. "Yes," she answered. The evidence was also not stored with the other evidence for the case, she said.
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Sommer chose to dismiss the charges against Baldwin with prejudice, meaning the charge cannot be brought again after the appeal options have been used.
"The state's willful withholding of this information was intentional and deliberate," Sommer said in the courthouse. "If this conduct does not rise to the level of bad faith, it certainly comes so near to bad faith as to show signs of scorching prejudice."
The judge added: "There is no way for the court to right this wrong."